Research themes

Research Supervision

Multiphase Flow

I have interests in modelling fluid flow processes, primarily related to the Earth Sciences including volcanic systems, flow and reactions in porous media and the deposition and remobilisation of sediment. I also work on oil-water two phase flows in porous media and in pipes, as well as having an interest in natural ventilation and low energy buildings.

Current research projects:

Work on volcanic systems includes processes in magma chambers, including the cooling, crystallisation and exsolution of volatiles and the concomitant flow processes such as triggering of eruptions and mixing of magmas with initially disparate densities which evolve through cooling. I also model both experimentally and theoretically the two phase dynamics of magma eruptions to the surface, including the effects of volatile exsolution and expansion through decompression from a high pressure chamber to the surface, and also the effects of viscosity changes to the magma during this process, which can combine to generate a wide range of eruption styles.

Work on reactions in porous rocks includes fundamental experimental and theoretical modelling of mixing, depletion and thermal reactions associated with water flooding within reactive rocks, as may occur in carbonate systems and with convection-driven reactions within magma chambers which occur under very different pressure and thermal regimes.

Models of sediment deposition include the effects of stratification in turbidite flows, but also in modelling the compaction and possible liquefaction of sediment following deposition. Such processes may be responsible for the generation of sand injection and sand volcano systems, and we have been developing a family of models to describe such processes.

Other interests include modelling two phase flows in geothermal systems, and the possible deposition and re-dissolution of precipitate associated with boiling or condensation in porous or fractured reservoirs. I have also been working on oil-water flows in porous rocks, and the associated flow patterns which can evolve in space and time. Such models are of great interest for time-lapse seismic modelling of oil reservoir flows which are induced through the injection of sea-water. I have also been modelling explosive lake eruptions, such as occurred at Lake Nyos and have been exploring the possibility of such activity at Lake Kivu in the Congo. I am also interested in natural convection and its role in the design of low energy buildings.

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